The Realities of CASE

To help manage a large and increasingly complex backlog of systems development projects, more IS departments are turning to computer-aided software engineering (CASE) as their solution. However, this technology has certain barriers to its easy implementation, as shown by the response to a recent Deloitte & Touche survey that addressed (among other things) CASE use in organizations. This article discusses some of the problems of CASE implementation these organizations encountered as well as ways IS departments can overcome these barriers and effectively integrate CASE.     

Adopting IS process innovations in organizations: the role of IS leaders’ individual factors and technology perceptions in decision making

While there is a rich body of literature on information system (IS) innovations, there is a limited understanding of the role IS leaders’ individual factors and their appraisals of technological factors play in organizations’ adoption of IS innovations. We address these gaps in the IS literature by focusing on an IS process innovation – namely, computer-aided software engineering (CASE) – which is targeted at the core activities of systems development/maintenance in IS departments. We specifically examine how organizations’ CASE adoption decision is impacted by (1) two individual factors of IS leaders (i.e., leaders’ hierarchical position and job tenure) and (2) their perceptions of technological factors (i.e., relative advantage and technological complexity of CASE). Data were gathered from IS leaders at 350 organizations in the United States using a national cross-sectional survey. The findings suggest that IS leaders’ hierarchical position and their job tenure significantly differentiate CASE adopters from non-adopters. IS leaders at lower levels of the organizational hierarchy and with shorter job tenure made the adoption decisions in adopter organizations, while IS leaders at higher levels of the organizational hierarchy and with longer job tenure made the adoption decisions in non-adopter organizations. The findings also reveal that relative advantage has two dimensions – namely, perceived efficacy advantage and perceived efficiency advantage – and IS leaders’ evaluation of the perceived efficacy advantage of CASE differentiates adopters from non-adopters. The study has important implications for our theoretical and practical understanding of the factors related to IS leaders that are influential in the organizational adoption of IS innovations.     

How CIOs obtain peer commitment to strategic IS proposals: barriers and facilitators

Effective initiation and execution of strategic information systems/technology (IS/T) projects has become a critical competence for many organizations. One key to this is the ability of the senior executive responsible for IS/T, called the Chief Information Officer (CIO), to obtain peer commitment to implement strategic IS/T projects. This paper explores the barriers and facilitators of peer commitment to the implementation of such projects. Peer commitment barriers and facilitators include the firm's external and internal IS/T environment, appropriateness of the IS/T initiatives, peer relationships, the ability to use the peer's preferred influence behaviors, and post-commitment implementation realities.     

Case Study: Managing the Change to CASE

Successful implementation of computer-aided software engineering (CASE) is more than a technical issue; it is a people issue as well. IS managers must realize that their staffs often have a strong resistance to change especially when it comes to learning to use a new tool As a result, IS managers must ensure that the proper training program, technical support, and commitment are in place before beginning a CASE implementation. This article presents a case study of how one company followed this plan and successfully implemented CASE.     

Experiences and expectations with CASE technology — An example from Slovenia

Adoption and current use, perceived benefits, problems, and expectations in the application of information system development methods and tools, specifically CASE technologies, are presented in the settings of Slovenia. Current practices and trends in the use of CASE technology were surveyed; major differences in the IS development approaches in organizations that currently use or do not use CASE were identified. The findings are believed to be indicative of some other new Central and Eastern European democracies that are at a comparable stage in developing their IS technology markets. Although most IS managers in Slovenia are aware of CASE technology or have considered its use, organizations with a comparatively high level of IS maturity - ones with some corporate IS development standards in place - actually use it. More than limited funding for investments in advanced information technology, the lack of related methodological and management knowledge and skills seems to be the major reason why system developers do not adopt it or, with limited use, slowly adopt CASE.     

The Impact of CASE on Software Development

Computer-aided software engineering ( CASE) is changing the way IS professionals develop information systems. This article demonstrates how traditional systems development methods are changing with automation, describes a new six-phase software development methodology— the CASE life cycle— designed to maximize the effective use of CASE technologies, and discusses how, organizations can make the transition to this new methodology.     

Using organizational influence processes to overcome IS implementation barriers: lessons from a longitudinal case study of SPI implementation

A fundamental tenet of the information systems (IS) discipline holds that: (a) a lack of formal power and influence over the organization targeted for change, (b) weak support from top management, and (c) organizational memories of prior failures are barriers to implementation success. Our research, informed by organization influence, compellingly illustrates that such conditions do not necessarily doom a project to failure. In this paper, we present an analysis of how an IS implementation team designed and enacted a coordinated strategy of organizational influence to achieve implementation success despite these barriers. Our empirical analysis also found that technology implementation and change is largely an organizational influence process (OIP), and thus technical-rational approaches alone are inadequate for achieving success. Our findings offer managers important insights into how they can design and enact OIPs to effectively manage IS implementation. Further, we show how the theory of organizational influence can enhance understanding of IS implementation dynamics and advance the development of a theory of effective IS change agentry.     

Strategies for Software Engineering Implementation

For the past several years, automating the functions of systems development through computer-aided software engineering (CASE) and software reengineering have promised quality systems in shorter time. This article discusses the advantages of these two technologies and how IS managers can best implement them in their organizations.     

Strategies for Software Engineering Implementation

For the past several years, automating the functions of systems development through computer-aided software engineering (CASE) and software reengineering have promised quality systems in shorter time. This article discusses the advantages of these two technologies and how IS managers can best implement them in their organizations.     

Strategic Tips for Case Implementation

General revelations on computer-aided software engineering (CASE) and seven specific tips help IS managers avoid the worst pitfalls of CASE implementation.     

Post-implementation management of CASE methodology

Information system development methodologies and supporting CASE technology (collectively referred to as CASE methodology) are being widely used in organizations to improve the productivity and quality of the software development process. This paper reviews the implementation lifecycle of CASE methodology and suggests that the post-implementation stage is the most critical for ensuring its successful use and incorporation within an organization. Effective management of the post-implementation stage requires CASE methodology to be considered as a socio-technical innovation. The paper describes the key post-implementation processes and mechanisms for the monitoring of these processes. Finally, a field study is outlined to illustrate how these concepts have been applied to the management of a CASE methodology in a software development organization. The focus of our discussion is the framework for post-implementation management – the specific implementation guidelines for CASE methodology resulting from any such exercise are beyond the scope of this paper.     

External information source and channel effectiveness and the diffusion of CASE innovations: an empirical study

This paper examines the relationship between perceived ‘knowledge transfer’ effectiveness of different information channels for computer-aided software engineering (CASE) technology and CASE innovation diffusion. Specifically, the knowledge transfer effectiveness of seven information sources and channels is assessed. CASE innovation behaviour is modelled using three stages: initiation, adoption and implementation. Three types of CASE innovations are examined: two technical process innovations and one administrative innovation. Data for the empirical study were collected through a large-scale national survey of senior IS managers. A total of 405 usable responses were received. The perceived knowledge transfer effectiveness of the information sources and channels is associated differently with the initiation, adoption and implementation phases of the innovation process. Further, these associations are not uniform across the three categories of CASE innovations. The study has implications for how knowledge barriers can be alleviated during the CASE diffusion process.     

MAKING CASE AN ORGANIZATIONAL REALITY

Commercial CASE tools have limited capability in team settings that impairs their usefulness and applicability in many organizations. Organizational change issues associated with assimilating CASE tools are also not adequately addressed in most corporations. This article makes recommendations for the resolution of these issues so that organizations can adopt CASE tools and implementation strategies that deliver productivity enhancement to the software development process.     

THE REAL COSTS AND BENEFITS OF CASE

More organizations are turning to computer-aided software engineering (CASE) technology to overcome systems development backlogs, improve systems quality, and limit systems maintenance efforts. There is, however, an increasing concern among many managers over the exact cost and the sometimes elusive benefits of establishing and operating what may add up to be a multimillion dollar technology investment. IS managers should realize though that the financial savings of CASE aren't necessarily measured in dollars and cents.     

Implementing a Corporatewide Information Strategy Through CASE

A new technology has emerged in recent years to assist in modeling all facets of a business enterprise and in the design and development of information systems. This technology, computer-aided software engineering (CASE), has caused much confusion in the IS community about its exact purpose. This article provides a detailed definition of CASE, distinguishes between CASE and integrated CASE (ICASE), and provides several strategies for ICASE implementation.     

APPLYING THE 80/20 RULE

In these tough economic times, doing more with less seems to be the motto of many organizations. IS departments especially are realizing that they must prepare their strategic plans to fit this philosophy. This column offers an approach to strategic planning that enables IS staff to spend a minimal amount of time and effort to gain the maximum amount of benefits from their information systems.     

Software reusability as synchronous innovation: a test of four theoretical models

Information systems departments are being challenged to improve systems delivery performance. Software reuse is a potential strategy to address recurring systems development problems such as high development cost, low programmer productivity and long systems delivery lead time. However, the barriers associated with reuse implementation are significant. A better understanding of the administrative changes that facilitate reuse implementation is required to further research and practice in this area. We conceptualise reusability as a software process innovation that constitutes administrative and technological dimensions. Drawing from the synchronous innovation concepts, four theoretical models of the interrelationships between these dimensions of reusability and systems delivery performance are developed. Using the data collected through a postal survey these models are empirically evaluated. The results strongly suggest that administrative innovations intervene in the relationship between technological innovations and systems delivery performance and vice versa. This implies that synergies exists between administrative and technological dimensions of reusability which are more important in explaining variance in systems delivery performance than these dimensions individually. Implications of the study for IS theory, future research and practice are identified and discussed.     

Adoption and implementation of CASE tools in Taiwan

The aim of the research discussed here was to understand computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tool usage in Taiwan. Through a literature review, we developed two questionnaires – one for general respondents, the other for teachers and CASE agents. After pre-testing, 786 questionnaires were mailed out and 226 effective responses were obtained after two follow-up letters. Factor analyses were used to condense factors from `severity of critical problems in system development', `severity of perceived problems in CASE usage', `attitude toward CASE' and `CASE implementation success determinants'. Several external variables were considered in exploring their possible influence as well as the attitude and organizational features of the organizations that successfully used CASE. Path analyses were used to test an attitude model of CASE adoption and implementation success determinants. The results show that `the perceived problems in CASE tools' had no statistically significant influence on `attitude toward CASE' and very little influence on `perceived CASE improvement for system development critical problems'. In addition, we found that `methodology use' (including the usage before CASE adoption and consistency with the methodology supported by CASE) was the only statistically significant CASE implementation success determinant. Using only a `methodology use' variable could provide a way to discriminate the successful adopter from relatively unsuccessful adopter with a 75% correct classification rate.     

End-User Computing in a CASE Environment

Computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools are currently being used by IS professionals rather than by users. No matter how effective these tools may be, however, they will not be able to assist in the reduction of application backlogs without supporting user-driven applications. This article examines characteristics of a CASE environment from the various perspectives of decision support, identifies the advantages and limitations of end-user computing in this environment, and suggests how IS managers can realize the potentials of CASE for user applications.